CES - LG to launch 60-inch thin TVs, show UMPC at CES

LG Electronics will later this year launch a 60-inch flat-panel TV that is just 45 millimeters thick, the company announced Sunday at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The LG60 LCD (liquid crystal display) is one of a number of thin flat-panel TVs due to be unveiled at CES, which starts officially on Monday. Thin is in this year in the competitive area of the TV market.

Japan's JVC has already announced it will launch LCD TVs in the middle of this year that are 39 millimeters thin and both Hitachi and Sharp are due to show prototype thin sets. Sony and Samsung are also expected to show even thinner TVs based on OLED (organic light emitting display) technology.

Equipped with a number of features including 120Hz scanning, which makes fast moving images appear smoother, and a lighting sensor that automatically adjusts brightness according to the ambient environment, the 60-inch LCD TV also consumes 50 percent less power than current models, LG said in a statement. The company is also planning to unveil a new 60-inch PDP (plasma display panel) TV set that offers a high contrast ratio of 30,000:1.

LG has also updated its 70-inch LCD and PDP sets to include Full HD wireless data streaming.

In addition to the new TVs, LG will also be showing a slider-type Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC). The machine is based on Intel's Menlow platform and comes with 1G byte of memory, a 40G byte hard-disk drive, touchscreen, Bluetooth, WiFi, HSDPA cellular data and a QWERTY keyboard.

On Monday the company is scheduled to demonstrate a new digital TV broadcasting system for mobile and handheld devices. The Mobile Pedestrian Handheld (MPH) system was developed by LG with Zenith and Harris Corp. and is based on existing TV broadcast standards. Unlike the competing DMB, DVB or MediaFlo technologies it does not require TV stations to buy extra frequency spectrum.

The system, which was first shown at the National Association of Broadcasters' convention in April, was tested by several U.S. TV stations last year and will be demonstrated at CES with MPH-enabled cell phones, laptop PCs, portable navigators and in-car TVs.

LG said it anticipates the mobile TV market growing from US$200 million in 2006 to US$4.1 billion in 2010.

The screen was particularly good. It is bright and visible from most angles, however heat is an issue, particularly around the Windows button on the front, and on the back where the battery housing is located.

My first impression after unboxing the Q702 is that it is a nice looking unit. Styling is somewhat minimalist but very effective. The tablet part, once detached, has a nice weight, and no buttons or switches are located in awkward or intrusive positions.

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